On 28 November, CERTFin together with the Bank of Italy, the Italian Banking Association (ABI), the Insurance Supervisory Authority (IVASS), Banca Mediolanum, Banca Popolare del Lazio, Banca Sella, BPER Banca, Cassa Centrale Group, Cassa di Ravenna, Credem, Generali, Iccrea, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit kicked off the cyber security campaign: 'I Navigati - Informati e Sicuri' ['The cyber-aware family - Up to date and trouble-free'].
Public authorities, together with the banking, financial, and insurance sectors, have stepped up their commitment to IT security, to preventing and countering cyber-attacks, and to protecting customers from online frauds. As a result, more and more Italian families are choosing digital channels and using PCs, tablets, and smartphones for making their payments, checking their bank balances, investing, managing loans and mortgages, and taking out insurance policies.
The campaign aims to raise customer awareness of the need to use digital tools carefully and safely to avoid falling into the traps of those who exploit technology and take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the human factor. The campaign, which will be on air until the end of the year, features the 'Navigati' [cyber-aware] family, whose members are IT security experts: they have become more informed and have learned how to extricate themselves from the possible pitfalls of the web. Armed with better information, the web becomes a familiar and protected space where they can browse safely.
Here are some simple rules to operate safely online:
- Use different and sufficiently long passwords, with alphanumeric characters and special characters;
- Access the Internet through your own devices, avoiding public and/or open networks;
- Install an antivirus and keep it constantly updated;
- Limit the personal information you share online;
- Check the sender's reliability before opening any links and attachments;
- In case of 'suspicious' phone calls, check the telephone number online or compare it with the official contacts of your bank. In any case, do not trust the caller if you are asked for bank details or other confidential data;
- If you think you have been the victim of a scam or have shared your bank or payment card details, contact your bank immediately.
You can follow the campaign on television, radio, social media, newspapers and the website www.inavigati.it created for this initiative and where you can watch an eight-part mini-series dedicated to possible scams and find additional information, interviews, and videos.